The Matrix Revolutions Counseling Service
by Vitani FyreWolf
Summary: In the days following Revolutions, distraught fans needed someone to turn to. The crew of the Neb takes it upon themselves, even in death, to help those who need them. How? By answering their phone calls, of course!
1. Part 1

THIS IS AN OLDER FIC. This is it's first posting on fanfiction.net, it has existed at the Hardline forum before now. I'm putting this up because…. It's easier to give people links to the site than to the forum!

A/N: The counseling service idea is NOT MINE. Let me put that down first of all. It was created by a wonderful author called Arashi for Rurouni Kenshin, in the fic "The Kenshin-gumi Counseling Service." Of course, since this is a Matrix fic, it's quite different, but it wouldn't exist if it weren't for Arashi. If at any time I am notified that Arashi does not like me using the idea, I will take the fic down.  Okay. ( I did send an e-mail, by the way.)

But, this idea did wonders for me after Kenshin's death, and with the grieving that the Matrix fans are going through, I thought I'd try to do the same. Yes, it's silly. But it's meant to be. As for where it takes place… well… that's up to you. Everyone has their different beliefs. Be it heaven, or whatever you like to think. For me, it's the Summerlands, the resting place between lives. But this is a fic to help the fans, so it's really up to you. It does, however, take place in the days immediately following Revolutions' opening.

This fic also exists because of Danascully's urging ^.^;; (I told you I couldn't do it properly.) I also want to apologize to her for taking so long to actually create it. 

The Matrix Revolutions Counseling Service

By Vitani FyreWolf

It was all because they had been bored. Well, not bored, exactly, but rather unused to not being busy. They had never had time to themselves before. After a joyful reunion, the crew of the Nebuchadnezzar found themselves wanting something to do.

And so they ended up here. 

The rooms were cluttered with pieces of paper, jammed in between telephone sets, scribbled with messages to each of the former resistance fighters. They had tried to keep everything organized for a short time, but that was soon forgotten as call numbers got out of control.

Neo tilted back in his chair, peering befuddled at the ringing phone. He had been answering calls for days, or what he thought were days… it was a little hard to tell in a place that had no time system. But it wasn't the time that was confusing. It was the people on the other side of the line that baffled him. He continued to answer questions from people who seemed to know more about him than they really had any right to. Somehow, they had figured that these people knew their story – and had gotten attached to them. It was a little weird to mean so much to people you had never met.

He rolled the chair forward a little and peered out into the next cubicle, his expression turning to one of gentle amusement. Trinity was stationed in that room, and her situation hadn't much changed over the few days. Phone tucked under her chin, hair mussed and tucked hastily behind her ears, beautiful eyes wide and hands moving frantically to keep up with the rate of the calls. She had to deal with most of it, not just of the calls directed towards her but also the ones the others handled that got rerouted to her – as most people wished, for just a moment, to reassure themselves of her existence. It had become a great source of entertainment for the others, who couldn't resist slipping by her doorway with grins on their faces at the normally calm and composed woman's predicament. A flat look and a pointed comment about shirking their own duties usually sent them scurrying back to their own phones, all except Neo, because her tongue never seemed quite as sharp when addressing him. 

Not that Neo didn't add to the problem too, of course. It had been a day or so into the project when Neo had encountered an issue. Some of the callers were crying. The majority of the ones crying were women. Now, Neo may have been able to fly, stop bullets, and halt the war… but he froze when it came to a crying female. After several incidents when he panicked and dropped the phone, he came up with a solution – rerouting the calls to Trinity. She would know how to handle them, of course. Neo had an almost childlike confidence in his mate's abilities.

It hadn't taken long for her to pick up on the rise in her calls compared to the fall in his, and she confronted him about it.

"Neo." She stood in the doorway, arms crossed. Where anyone else's foot would be tapping threateningly, she managed to stay still and achieve the same effect.

"Yeah?" He swirled in the chair, probably a little more than necessary, and blinked at her. 

"You've been giving me your calls, haven't you?"

His mouth opened, then closed, then opened again, before he gave up. She already knew anyway, so he nodded miserably. "Well… not all of them."

She sighed patiently. "And why, exactly, are you doing that? You can't say it's because there's a lack of calls on my end."

He muttered something that caused her to lean forward.

"What?"

"They're crying." He repeated, looking sheepish.

"Neo, half of the callers we get are crying! You've been giving me _half _of your calls?"

"Maybe.."

She sighed and pressed a hand to her temple. Neo watched her with a conflicted expression on his face, unsure if he had upset her. He was so absorbed with watching her that he jumped when she spoke up again.

"Neo."

"..Yeah?"

"We agreed to do this together, and you actually have a bigger part in this than I do."

'Not according to _them_,' his mind spoke up, and he found he agreed. But she wouldn't agree, so he stayed quiet.

"So, from now on, you are going to take ALL of your calls."

He opened his mouth to accept, and she cut him off. "_Without_ hanging up on the crying ones. That'll only make them worse."

He _really_ wanted to pout. But that would be unfair, so he didn't. Instead, he nodded in obedience, and she heaved a sigh. "Good. Then that's settled." Without another word, she moved into his room and settled on his lap, resting her head on his shoulder. Neo had his arms halfway around her when - 

"Hey, Trinity!" Mouse yelled from his cubicle down the hall. "We've got a hysterical one on the line, here! I think you'd better hurry."

Trinity groaned, rose to her feet, and dashed off. Neo glanced surreptitiously at his phone, before following her. The "fans" would have to wait for a while. 

And that was that.

Neo smiled slightly at the memory, his eyes flitting towards where Mouse was stationed. He couldn't see the young fighter, but he knew already that he had plenty of calls of his own. Those who had calmed down about Neo and Trinity's deaths had soon thought back to the others, and though the rest of the crew hadn't had much directed towards them in the first couple of days, now they had more than enough to handle. Mouse probably got the most, out of that, for reasons that Neo did not quite understand. But he HAD seen Mouse blush quite a few times while listening to a call, and respond quickly before hanging up. So he wasn't the only one having trouble with his callers.

One baffling thing, brought up by Switch during one of their breaks (that was another thing that confused Neo. How long exactly did they take breaks? Since there was no time, who knew how long they were away from the phones? And then he would silently curse the Oracle for making him think too much.), and that was the reoccurring comment about "fanfics". 

Many of the callers talked about fanfics. About reading about _them_. They hadn't quite figured out what they were, as of yet, or how they had so much information about them, but they had ascertained that whatever they were, they were almost as helpful in calming the distraught fans as was the counseling service itself. So, they decided, fanfics were a good thing.

One thing was for certain, with all this attention the crew was getting, they certainly didn't feel dead.


	2. Part 2

A/N: Here's the next bit! Because Dana kept prodding me oh-so-subtly ^.^; Anyhow, this next part focuses on the phone calls a bit more, because I'll likely forget the ideas if I don't write it now. I promise – there will be more character interaction later. We all want a little peek into how our beloved characters are spending their time ^.^ (Although we know in certain cases. Hehe.)

Anyhow, also at Dana's urging, this fic will turn into a sort of call-per-post thing. With each addition to the story, you focus on a different event. This one belongs to Mouse.

I want to thank all of you SO much for reviewing. It has made me giddily happy ^.^ I'm so glad people like the idea.

Part 2

            Mouse rather liked his cubicle. It was messy, the way he had never been able to leave things on the Neb. Everyone else had been ridiculously neat. After a while, they had stopped scolding him about messes, and merely followed the Trinity routine… merely looking at him for an extended period of time until he finally got guilty enough to go and clean. 

            But all that was over now. And wherever they were, they got to have things the way they wanted them. His trademark "woman in red" poster was hung reverently on the wall in front of him, and countless other photographs and designs for her were strewn over one half of the desk. The other half held what looked like a chart, and every once in a while during phone calls he would lean over and write something on it. This was his "Taste Chart". After he had gotten more comfortable talking to the callers, he would begin to interrogate them about what they were eating, what they had eaten, and what those things tasted like. Then he would try and connect those descriptions to reports given by other callers. He figured eventually he would figure out any machine-made mistakes and be the expert on what food _really _tasted like.

            He was beginning to wonder at the unusual prolonged silence when the phone rang. About time.

            "Hello?"

            "…._Mouse?"_  The voice was a girl's, so heightened with disbelief so it made her sound slightly unbalanced.

            "What did you want to talk about?" He was calmer about this now, the girls didn't unnerve him so much anymore.

            "Well.. I guess I just wanted to hear you guys, you know, any of you… I can't believe I'm actually doing this…. but… I've just been so down since the end, and…"

            "You certainly aren't alone on that count," Mouse broke in. 

            "It feels like I am."

            "Believe it or not, you're not alone in that either. What have you been doing? Not sleeping, not eating, snapping at people for no apparent reason?"

"Well… mainly, not eating." She sounded slightly put out. She probably hadn't expected him to speak so candidly. What, did she not pay any attention to how he acted before?

"Why do that?" That would have been the last thing he would do. Well, not that he understood exactly where these people were coming from, but he figured if he did, it would still be the last thing.

"I…. have no appetite. After seeing it, everything has no taste… it's like eating is the last thing I should be thinking about."

"Oh? Then what _should_ you be doing? And how is not eating going to help you do it?"

"I don't know."

            "Let me tell you something," Mouse smiled slightly. They had gotten dozens of cases like hers over the few days, and each time, it was easier and easier to help. "What happened isn't an easy thing to see, or remember. For any of us, and especially for Trinity and Neo, and it's them you seem disturbed about. But it's over now, and they're happy. You making yourself sick by not eating will do nothing towards _keeping_ them happy. They both blame themselves for more than they should, and no doubt they'd do it in this case too."

            That usually snapped them out of it. The thought of bringing unhappiness to any of them was almost blasphemy for the fans. 

            "You mean that? That they're happy?"

            "Yeah. Yeah, they really are."

            "Well, it would make sense… they _are_ together…"

            Mouse coughed. A little too much sentimentality. "So… you gonna be okay now?"

            "I think so, yeah. Thank you… I've missed you too, you know."

            "Hah, I haven't gone anywhere. Oh, before you go, could you tell me what you ate last? When you could last taste food, I mean."

            "Erm… that would be an apple I had before going to the movies.."

            "And what did it taste like?" He took out his pen and poised it over the 'apple' section on his chart.

            "Well, crisp, I guess… cold… and sweet."

            That matched the other descriptions. No machine-made mistake there.

            "Great, thanks!"

            "Um, sure."

            Another job well done.


	3. Part 3

A/N: Okay, I'm writing more now, even though I really don't feel like writing ^^ But I've got to kick my ass and do it, otherwise I'll NEVER start up again! And Dana's been prodding me, so really this is because she wants it. I was kinda out of the Matrix mode, so I watched Reloaded tonight, worked on my Dorky!Neo, and then came here. And the sound of this call might seem a little – unlikely – but trust me, it isn't. You guys saw some of the stuff that was said in those dark days after Revs.

Thank you all for reviewing and being extremely patient with me. And thank you to those who sent me messages – I'm healing now, so hopefully things'll be better.

Enjoy your time with Neo!

Part 3

Neo stared at the ringing phone with a sense of foreboding. He _would_ answer the phone, and if the person was crying, he would _not_ hang up. Trinity had run down to hall back to her phone and the desperate caller, but even though she wasn't there to watch him, the thought of disobeying her didn't even cross his mind. Trinity told him to do it, so there was no other option. Not listening to Trinity would have probably resulted in his death a long time before he ever boarded the Logos.

But still, crying females were scary things. He figured being with Trinity had left him rather inexperienced when it came to that. 

Okay – deep breath, extend the arm – _farther – _and the phone was picked up.

"….Hello?"

"_Neo?"___

He sighed internally. They _had_ called his number, why did they always sound so awed when he picked up? …. Maybe they had caught on to his dodging the calls. Nah, couldn't be. At least she wasn't crying.

"Yea, that's me."

"You really ARE there…"

Why did they always insist on making comments that made absolutely no sense?

"Where did you think I was?"

"Well… dead."

And again.

"I am dead."

"You know, _dead_ dead."

Maybe picking up the phone was a bad idea. "I'm pretty much as dead as you can get, I think."

"But you're _there."_

"Where else would I be? I'm dead!"

"But you're not GONE."

Okay, NOW she's starting to speak coherently.

"No, I'm not. I'm here. We're all here."

"I want to be gone."

Wait, what? 

"Excuse me?"

"It's been so horrible since you guys left – I don't want to be here anymore. It's all I ever think about. I look around and… NOBODY notices you're gone, except me…"

"No, no, no, wait. You can't die. And trust me, people notice. I don't know how, it's all rather confusing and I try not to think about it, but they do. And you can't choose die because someone else is dead!"

"You did."

…. He did NOT want to know how she knew that. And it wasn't strictly true, anyway, right?  'I mean, through doing it I ALSO ended the war.' It just happened to conveniently coincide with the dying. 

"That's different. Besides, I didn't die only for that reason."

"But if you didn't have to fight, wouldn't you have?"

"Somehow I don't think the situation is quite the same."

"Feels like it."

"How would _you_ know what it feels like? …. Look, don't kill yourself. Really."

"Why?"

"Because if you try, I'll.. I'll.. I'll do something."

"You'll do what?"

"I don't know yet. But you won't like it."

Her voice became muffled, and Neo caught something that vaguely sounded like "dork".

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

"Well, if you are so set on dying, then why did you call me?"

Silence.

Neo grinned triumphantly. The One: 1, caller: 0. 

"See? You don't really want to die."

Suddenly the sound of sobbing came from the other line.

Oh, shit.

The One: 1, caller: 1.

"L-look, don't cry, I'm sorry -"

"No! No, thank you, don't be sorry, you guys have given so much, and then I bother you with calling because I wanted to make sure you're still there – "

"You don't have to call to do that!"

"What?"

"I don't know how, but it's something Trinity told me. She said that these phone calls are really for the reassurance, but that if the callers were calm enough, they would find out that they don't really need anything to reach us."

"How?"

"Don't know. I didn't ask. But it's what she told me."

"She really told you that."

"Yea."

"Then…. it's okay."

"Wait, suddenly because she said something, it's okay?"

"Yea, well, I understand now."

"How nice for you. Mind telling me?"

There was laughter. "No, no, I think I won't. Thank you, Neo. Really. And say thank you to Trinity, too."

"For what?"

"She'll know."

After the phone was hung up, Trinity walked in, a small smile on her face. "See? You can do it."

Neo spun around in his chair and stood up. "You were listening?"

"My call didn't take that long, so I tapped yours to see how you were doing."

"Really."

She walked up to him, and placed his hands on his chest, sliding them around until her arms circled his body. Neo stopped pretending to be annoyed and pressed her against him, closing his eyes as he rested his head against her hair. 

"So... do you know?" 

"Yes."

".... You're not going to tell me, are you?"

She gave a short laugh and lifted her mouth to his, softly brushing his lips.

"You'll figure it out eventually."


	4. Part 4

Bet you all think I died or something ^.^; I'm very sorry I haven't been around. I didn't intend to continue this fic thingy, but certain people *cough*Dana*cough* showed interest in seeing more of it. So, I got guilty, and wrote more ^.^ 

And… Trinity time ^.^ (Yea, yea, I wrote a Trinity part. Le w00t.)

Part 4

            Everything in the building was relatively still as the crew of the Neb relaxed during a lull in the calls. It had been a while, and slowly people were calming down, the calls weren't nearly as frantic. Still, they waited, expecting the rush to start up again at any moment.

            Trinity sat in quiet contentment, drawing her legs up until her feet rested on the edge of the chair. Her head tilted slightly to the side as she contemplated the strangely silent phone. The lack of noise was jarring after the near-constant sound of ringing, and she wasn't sure what to do. It was, after all, the lack of things to do that had driven them to start this in the first place.

            After a period of time when her phone remained mute, she began to rise, intending to finish that… conversation… that she had started with Neo earlier. Stretching languidly, arms raised over her head, she started for the door. Just as she reached it, one hand resting on the frame, a ring broke through the stillness.

            Trinity pursed her lips and sighed inwardly, but did not show any irritation. She turned to look at the shaking phone, observing it without expression, wondering what the result would be if she just left it. 

            No…. no, she had just given her life for people; she would not shirk a simple phone call, not to mention she had just scolded Neo on the same issue. Pushing herself away from the doorframe, she settled back into her seat and picked up the receiver.

            "Hello."

            "-Oh!" The voice was that of a girl, and it sounded shaky. 

            Used to the nervousness of the callers, Trinity spoke firmly. "What is it?"

            "I…" there was a long pause, leaving her to wonder if the girl intended to continue at all. "I was about to hand up… I thought you weren't going to answer."

            Trinity smiled ruefully, leaning back in the chair. "I always answer if you wait long enough."

            "Wait?" The girl sounded startled. 

            "Sometimes I'm busy."

            "Still? But I would have thought…"  
  


            "Different kind of busy," she replied dryly.

            "_Oh."_

            When the conversation didn't start up again, Trinity reminded her gently. "So, you called because… why, exactly?"

            "I'm… I'm afraid."

            This was new. She had gotten grief and anger… but fear? Why?

            "Afraid of what?"

            "Of… forgetting. Forgetting you."

            _What on earth…_ "Why would you forget me?" _How do you even know me?_

"Because you died, and… no one notices, not anyone that I see.. and it always happens, they die and then you forget, you let go, and it's over."

            "How can you be sure that will happen?" The calm in Trinity's voice seemed to soothe the girl, and she spoke more clearly.

            "I can feel it starting to happen."

            "Why does it scare you?"

            "I don't want to forget… it means too much for me to forget it."

            "If it means so much, how will you forget?"

            "Because it'll fade. It'll stop meaning so much. And that's what I don't want to lose."

            This one was difficult. "Why… did you not worry about this before?"

            The girl spoke as if it was obvious. "Because you were in the war! I watched you, worried, but always knew more was to come. Now it's over, and -"

            "And you don't need to worry."

            "What?"

            "You don't need to worry… because we aren't fighting anymore."

            "That doesn't mean I want you to leave…"

            "Who said I'm leaving?" She really should not be forced to think this much after death.

            "If I forget…"

            "Doesn't mean I'm going anywhere."

            "I'll still forget."

            Didn't give up, did she?

            "Then you will."

            There was silence, and Trinity wondered if the girl had hung up. _I can't lie to her.         _

            "How… does that help me? That's why I called…"

            "You don't understand. Maybe you will forget for a while, but that doesn't mean anything."

            "But how is my forgetting you okay?"

           "Because I won't forget you. None of us will." _Can't, more like. They won't let us. _"So, we aren't going anywhere. And when you need to call… well.. you've already figured out how to do that."

            "And you'll… always pick up, right? If I wait?"

            Icy blue eyes smiled. "Right."

            "… Thank you."

            "It's okay."

            "Can I ask you one more thing?"

            _As long as it doesn't require a ridiculous amount of thought. _"Sure."

            "Am I really talking to you, or am I dreaming?"

            Trinity suppressed a laugh. "What's the difference?" 

            ".. All right, I get it. Thank you again… and.. I'm glad you don't have to fight anymore."

            "Me, too. Goodbye."

            Trinity remained looking at the phone, going over the strange conversation in her head, for a considerable amount of time, until a familiar voice broke into her thoughts.

            "What's going on?" Neo stood in the doorway, large eyes puzzled as he watched her stare at nothing.

            She shook her head reflectively and stood to meet him. "Nothing. Just giving a lesson you learned a long time ago."

            He cocked his head at her. "More cryptic sayings?"

            "They're good for you."

            "Not from my experience."

          Her lips quirked upward and she brought her face near to his. "Are you going to spend our entire break complaining? Because I can list a lot of things I'd much rather be thinking about."

            Neo grinned, brushing his lips against her neck. "Does it have to require thought?"

            _The less, the better, right now. _"No, no thought at all."

            "In that case…." 

            Mere moments later, the cubicles lay abandoned, while the sound of laughter and receding footsteps echoed down the hall. 


	5. Part 5

A/N: Hehe. Okay, Dana, okay. You happy now? It's been a hard time – with Revs coming out, and I felt another part was needed. So here it is. Still hoping it helps. Every time I watch that movie, I love it more. The tears are familiar, now... but I still miss her... miss them... so much.

Part 5

It was all very confusing. One day there had been very few calls, and then the next the flood had risen again, leaving the crew caught off guard and racing to connect the lines to phones they had put away, thinking they were no longer necessary. The tears were back, the crying, and the questions. They had tried to determine the new source, but questioning the callers didn't seem to do much good – it was as if they expected them to know already. By all rights they should, considering how much these people knew about _them!_

It was almost halfway through the day when Neo appeared in the doorway of Trinity's cubicle, face set in a way she hadn't seen since they left the world. His eyes were veiled in the way he used to guard himself against pain... she had never wanted to see him look like that again.

"Neo, what -" She began to rise, but he motioned her back into the chair.

"Pick up the second line."

Her eyes turned to rest on the line of ringing phones... all trilling except line two. "Neo, if you can't handle your calls..."

"Pick it up, Trin. Please." His voice was thick, but when she looked back at him, his face hadn't changed.

"Alright." She reached for the receiver. By the time it reached her ear, Neo was gone from the entrance. In a few moments she heard his voice on the other end.

"Trinity?"

"Yes? What's going on?"

"_Trinity?"_ This was a new voice, soft and wavering. A caller. Why did Neo need help with the call? He had been fine since she'd spoken to him about it before.

"..What is it?"

"I.... needed to talk, and I asked Neo if he felt he could talk about it alone.. and then he left and now you're both here and -"

_The hell? _"Wait, talk about what? What is 'it'?"

"Your death."

_Oh... oh, no. _Trinity was acutely aware of her mate's silence on the other end of the line. It hadn't been so specific, before. The callers had talked about her death before, but not solely... more on the line of her being gone and needing reassurance. To talk about the death itself... _Neo._

The girl seemed to take the quiet as a cue for her to continue speaking. "I'm having trouble coping with it... it's been so long, but every time, it hurts so much, and it won't go away."

Trinity found her voice. "How can you see it?"

"I watch it. When I watch your story... when I watch the end..."

_Watching. Watching where?_

Before she could question further, the girl continued talking. Perhaps it was for the better... maybe the girl couldn't handle having the inquiries turned on herself. "It hurts, watching you go."

There was a sharp intake of breath, and it didn't sound like the girl's. _Neo... how much have you thought about this, for it to still be so fresh?_

In the other cubicle, Neo sat, gripping the phone tightly, listening to the conversation between the girl and his beloved. It ached, but he could not bring himself to hang up and leave the conversation to her. No... he needed to be a part of it. This time, along with the caller... he needed reassurance.

"Why is _my_ death the one hurting you so much?" Trinity's voice became slightly sharp. "I am not the only one who died. Why don't you cry for Neo?"

_Trinity... you don't know? How can you not know?_

The same thought seemed to have run through the other's head, because when she spoke it was calm, almost explanatory. "I would have cried for him... had he lived. Had he been sentenced to live."

"How can you say that?" The sharpness gave way to cold anger, and Neo stepped in quickly.

"Stop, Trin. She's right."

The girl's response came almost on top of his. "You don't understand. I did not cry for his death because it was the kindest thing for him. I would have cried if he had needed to go on living... with you dead. Just as I would have cried for you if you had survived, and he died in the last battle."

Trinity fell silent, and Neo leaned forward to brace his forehead against the desk, still holding the receiver tightly pressed to his ear. She gave so much... she did not realize her own importance. To him... or to them. She gave without asking, died without regret – but anything resembling life that could have existed after that night would have been the most extreme form of punishment for him. Perhaps she was beginning to see.. if their roles had been switched.

Sometimes, their voices held awe, something akin to worship when they spoke of her, to her. He did not think she noticed it... it would have been hard, since it is most difficult to perceive what another thinks of oneself. Neo, however, recognized the reverent tones, the sounds of grief as though a people had lost their hero.

_Their lady_. He had heard one of them call her that, once, quickly during one of the conversations. But he had caught it, and remembered it. Maybe they understood, a little, about the light that had been snuffed out when she left his life.

He was startled out of his thoughts by her voice. "Why, then, do you hurt?"

"....What?"

Trinity's voice was firm, but warmer than it had been. "You said that you would have cried, had one lived and one died. But both are dead. Why do you cry now?"

_She does not have what I have, Trin._

"Because...." the reply was soft. "Because you did not lose each other, but I lost you. I cry for me."

_They miss her. I... am sorry for them._

"It was not my intent to cause more unhappiness by my death."

"No!" The girl's voice sounded shocked. "No, it was not your fault – it's just I can't handle it, because I'm stupid and got attached and -"

"But what has she given you, through that attachment?" Neo's sudden comment cut the two women off abruptly.

It was a moment before the girl ventured a reply. "So much."

"Then, wasn't the attachment worth it?"

"It makes it hurt more."

"The more it hurts... the more special the attachment."

"Neo..." Trinity spoke. "Neo, after I died, you brought peace..."

"I was _dead_, Trin. I was not there. I was already headed towards wherever you were. She's right."

"Then... now?"

"I found you again. But then... I was nothing. It was horrible to be nothing. I have meaning again."

"So do I."

"Maybe I should go..." the voice sounded slightly awed, which was an improvement over her earlier sadness, anyway.

Trinity, again, took control. "We cannot solve pain. We cannot take it away. I can't – as much as I'd like to. But you haven't lost me – lost _us_, not really. We're here, the same people we have always been. You just have to look harder."

"Just tell me one thing."

"What?"

"When you died... you were smiling. Were you truly content?"

Neo waited for her answer, and it came, patiently given. "Yes. Yes, I was. And I am now, if that is any help."

"It is. Thank you. I am sorry to bother you."

"I'm picking up phones. I'm asking to be bothered."

When the phone was hung up at last, Neo stood and stared at the wall for a long moment, before moving back into the hallway.

She was waiting, arms hanging at her sides and blue eyes speaking in a way they only did for him. He said nothing, and went to her, feeling her arms slide around his shoulders to press him against her body. His hands held her close, so his face was nestled against her neck. They stood there, one being, letting what they needed to say be conveyed through their embrace.

No, they were not lost. This was not lost.

_My beloveds have gone _

_before me._

_In sorrow do I cry._

_They have begun the journey_

_and left me bye and bye._

_I cry for me;_

_rejoice for them – _

_as life begins again._

_With memories_

_and loving friends,_

_I'll take my comfort then._

_Merry Meet. Merry Part. And Merry Meet Again _

_bright soul._

_Blessed be._

- Wiccan prayer of loss


End file.
